Saginaw Country Club pro David Tokarsky qualifies for 46th PGA Professional National Championship

Saginaw's David Tokarsky qualifed for the 46th PGA Professionals National Championship in Oregon.Courtesy Photo

SAGINAW, MI — Last August, David Tokarsky achieved the opportunity of his professional life by qualifying for the 46th PGA Professional National Championship at Sunriver Resort in Oregon.

He just didn’t find out until a couple weeks ago.

The PGA head golf professional for the Saginaw Country Club finished as the second alternate out of the Michigan PGA Championship at Oakland University last August, but found out on May 9 that he was selected to compete in the national tournament that runs June 23-26.

“They called and told me I’d made it, and it took about half a second to accept,” said the 35-year old Tokarsky.

Tokarsky finished the three-round championship carding rounds of 73, 74 and 71 to finish with an overall score of 218.

Scott Hebert of Traverse City was medalist with a 208.

Now the Fenton native and former Saginaw Valley State star has a chance to play in another national championship on national television with a chance to qualify for the PGA Championship at Oak Hill Country Club in August.

“It’s an absolute dream,” Tokarsky said. “I’ve played in a handful (of national championships), but never one of this magnitude.”

An All-American for the Cardinals, Tokarsky competed in the NCAA National Championships in 1997 and ’98, in addition to two assistant professional national championships in 2004 and 2006.

But they didn’t compare to a PGA Professional National Championship.

“This is more like a PGA tour even than anything I could have possibly hoped to play in,” he said.

Tokarsky said he’s planning on heading out to Oregon a couple days in advance to get a practice round on each of the two course he’s going to play at Sunriver Resort.

Until then, he’s going to try and hit the links as often as possible, with a tune-up at the Michigan Open in June as his last competitive practice round.

“I’m trying not to take away from what I normally do at the clubhouse here,” he said. “It’s a challenge to find practice time and work on my own game, when I’m giving lessons to members and my students.”

However, those daily responsibilities do keep him sharp.

“I’m a consistent ball striker and a good putter,” he said. “I play with a lot of members, and they say it just gets boring watching me, which is good. I’m pretty decent on the greens.

“I need to work on my short game and on building confidence. Just stay comfortable in the present tense.”

Tokarsky said he’s on the staff with taylor made and addidas, who’ve provided him with all the equipment he needs to compete, while a host of friends and acquaintances have offered to serve as caddy. However, Tokarsky said he’s going to lean on a local expert to help him in his quest.

“I’m going to get a local caddy who knows the golf course,” he said. “It’s in the mountains, and any time you play a golf course in some sort of mountain range, the greens have a lot of local knowledge that you need to be able to read.”

The tournament will be shown live on the Golf Channel and officials asked Tokarsky about his hometown for information to go with his profile.

“I thought about it for a second,” he said. “I grew up in Fenton, but Saginaw is my hometown. I’m all-in with this community. … I’ve lived her now for over 10 years of my life. This is my home.”

His hometown will be following him from afar as he chases a spot among golf’s elite.

Hole-in-one

• Essexville’s Paul Chritz, 60, aced the 143-yard No. 8 hole at The Sawmill Golf Club in Saginaw on May 18. It was the first hole-in-one for Chritz and was witnessed by Ed Bader, Bernie Ederer and Kevin Schultz. He used a pitching wedge for the shot and finished with a 77 for the round.

Contact Cory Butzin at cbutzin1@mlive.com with any golf stories, hole-in-ones, outings or any related information. Follow him on Twitter: @CoryButzin.